feejer222
Well-known member
In the superstock class in the UK traction control is not allowed but telemetry is.
Telemetry is the downloading of elctronic data from the bike at the end of the race or practice session allowing you to keep a record of the settings and to work out what effect any changes that you made might have had.
Traction control is controled by the on-board computer. It compares the revolutions of the front wheel and the rear wheel. When the rear wheel starts to rotate faster than the front it switches off one of the cylinders, thus reducing the drive to the rear wheel and stopping it spinning, the computer then switches the cylinder back on and the bike stays rubber side down.
Because telemetry is allowed a front spindle sensor is allowed, which leaves the opportunity there for the indescriminate to program in traction control. This is easily findable by the scrutineers....unless the team is clever.
They can do a couple of things, one is to program traction control in, but set the computer to return to a default setting as soon as the ignition is switched off. When the rider goes out to race he has traction control. He comes into Park Ferme having won the race and switches off the bike. The computer then switches back to the 'other' engine map which doesn't have traction control so when the scrutineers receive a complaint from another team because our cheat was able to drive out of corners like he was on rails, they cannot find any evidence.
The other trick is to use 2 engine maps. One gives traction control the other does not. The traction control map trips in when the front wheel passes lets say 30mph (again using the spindle sensor as the switch). The bike is checked by the scrutineers and they can find no sign of traction control in the engine map. They think 'aha, maybe we should have the bike running and set it on a dyno'. This still will not trigger it as the front wheel is stationary. The same trick can be done to enhance power output to illegal levels....but only with the front wheel doing 30mph.
I mention all of this because the championship leader and runaway pole setter in the superstock class has today been disqualified for failing to go to Park Ferme after setting pole. You just don't do that. He was visibly faster on the straights and out of the corners at the last round, and was the talk of the paddock. It seems someone must have lodged a complaint and he was tipped off.
Telemetry is the downloading of elctronic data from the bike at the end of the race or practice session allowing you to keep a record of the settings and to work out what effect any changes that you made might have had.
Traction control is controled by the on-board computer. It compares the revolutions of the front wheel and the rear wheel. When the rear wheel starts to rotate faster than the front it switches off one of the cylinders, thus reducing the drive to the rear wheel and stopping it spinning, the computer then switches the cylinder back on and the bike stays rubber side down.
Because telemetry is allowed a front spindle sensor is allowed, which leaves the opportunity there for the indescriminate to program in traction control. This is easily findable by the scrutineers....unless the team is clever.
They can do a couple of things, one is to program traction control in, but set the computer to return to a default setting as soon as the ignition is switched off. When the rider goes out to race he has traction control. He comes into Park Ferme having won the race and switches off the bike. The computer then switches back to the 'other' engine map which doesn't have traction control so when the scrutineers receive a complaint from another team because our cheat was able to drive out of corners like he was on rails, they cannot find any evidence.
The other trick is to use 2 engine maps. One gives traction control the other does not. The traction control map trips in when the front wheel passes lets say 30mph (again using the spindle sensor as the switch). The bike is checked by the scrutineers and they can find no sign of traction control in the engine map. They think 'aha, maybe we should have the bike running and set it on a dyno'. This still will not trigger it as the front wheel is stationary. The same trick can be done to enhance power output to illegal levels....but only with the front wheel doing 30mph.
I mention all of this because the championship leader and runaway pole setter in the superstock class has today been disqualified for failing to go to Park Ferme after setting pole. You just don't do that. He was visibly faster on the straights and out of the corners at the last round, and was the talk of the paddock. It seems someone must have lodged a complaint and he was tipped off.
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Trying to ban it just penalizes the ethical guys, so make it legal and put everyone back on the same footing.
